eye of the tiger
by chokecherries
Summary: So, she hadn't really expected to end up running all over the galaxy trying to save the universe with these people, but she couldn't really complain either. Especially not with a hot-headed pyromaniac who possessed a particularly charming grin at her side. Nope.—natsu/lucy, gray/juvia; spacepirates!au


**notes: **so i've been on this kick wherein i've been listening to songs from before the nineties, and there's been all this stuff about guardians of the galaxy on tumblr, and although that is not directly associated with this, it happened okay. **  
><strong>**dedication: **to srngdrgn. i don't know if you even read my stuff anymore, but this one's for you, regardless. **  
>disclaimer: <strong>disclaimed**  
><strong>**other notes: **i listened to a hella ton of songs from the eighties to psyche myself up for writing this. not that it takes place in the eighties, because it doesn't, but.

**summary: **So,she hadn't really expected to end up running all over the galaxy trying to save the universe with these people, but she couldn't really complain either. Especially not with that hot-headed pyromaniac by her side. **  
>chapter title: <strong>we didn't start the fire

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_{no we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it} _

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**i. **

Dull obsidian orbs followed the murky liquid as it swished around in the tumbler. The chatter coming from around him and the bustling of the waitresses and bartender sounded muted to his ears. Somewhere, he registered the old jukebox in the back of the bar playing some song from earlier days. He narrowed his eyes and lifted the liquor-filled glass to his cracked lips before downing half of it.

The whiskey burned as it slid down his throat, leaving a fiery and slightly bitter taste in his mouth that made him want to cough. He didn't drink all that much normally—okay, _lie_, but he hadn't for a while—and he wasn't used to the slow burn of the alcohol and what it did to his insides. There was also the fact that all his senses were heightened more than a normal person's, so everything was about ten times stronger than it usually would have been.

"Here you go—one slice of specially ordered strawberry cake," a cheery voice piped up, and a plate was slid across the table, passing him by.

The redhead sitting across from him brightened considerably, and a wide smile spread across her face. "Thank you, Mira. You know just how to make it."

Mirajane Strauss—owner of the bar they called home, sometimes—brushed some of her power-white hair behind her ear and smiled back. "Anytime, darlin'. I still owe you four for the last time you helped me out here."

Erza picked up the fork resting beside her plate and shook her head. "Like I've said before, you don't owe us anything. We couldn't just stand by and do nothing when your business and life were being threatened."

"Well, I do have to say, I suppose word's gotten around about the apparent 'protection' this place has now. No one's tried to rob me in three months. It's nice, honestly. Peaceful."

His partner looked extremely content with herself and nodded. "Good, good. If anyone tries to give you trouble again, you know who to call."

Mira laughed—a tinkling bell sound—and shifted the empty platter in her arms. "Mm. But I can take care of myself and this place too, you know. I'm plenty capable."

"Well, the offer is still out there."

The barmaid gave her a wide smile, something particularly devious lurking in the depths of her sapphire eyes, and winked. "Of course, of course. I have to get back to work now, but if I don't see Gray and Gajeel before you guys head out again, tell them I said hello, please. Happy too."

With an exuberant wave, she turned on her heel and walked away, the pink fabric of her dress twirling behind her. The resident weapons expert leaned back in her seat as she slipped a bite of her favorite dessert into her mouth. She closed her eyes and exhaled in bliss, making sure to fully savor the cake before swallowing.

"You should really stop with your sulking, Natsu. I haven't seen you touch a glass of whiskey for a long time, why start up again?"

He glanced up at her, noting that she looked exceptionally serious—but of course, Erza Scarlet was _always _serious, there were just times she was apt to be more so than others. He sighed and ran a hand through his messy salmon hair. If he didn't answer her, he wouldn't get any peace; even if she had a slice of her choice weakness in front of her.

Natsu leaned back in his seat of the booth and scoffed. What did it matter if he told her his problems or not? It's not like it really mattered—of course, the waiting and somewhat kind look on her face suggested she thought otherwise—and he'd get over them. Eventually. So he decided that no, he was not going to speak a word about it and maybe if he just ignored her, he would forget she was there. Or she'd get invested in her cake and be too busy to notice him, and that way he could slip away unnoticed.

(Maybe what he really needed was to hit something—or _somebody_, his mind offered, but he ignored it. He'd always been better at talking with his fists anyway. Blowing off some steam wouldn't hurt him, surely. It'd probably do wonders for his mood and the cloudy disposition he'd had lately.)

But Erza Scarlet had known him for a long time, since they were both children, and she could have written a guide on him. Placing her fork back down on the marble tabletop with a quiet clatter, she folded her hands and leaned forward expectantly. "This is about that last job we took, isn't it."

He scowled outright. There hadn't even been a questioning tone when she spoke, it was just a knowing statement. Sometimes he cursed the stars that she knew him so well. He turned his head away from her sharply, choosing to focus his gaze on the bar off to the side instead. "So what if it is?"

Erza sighed and he could tell the hard look in her eyes had turned into something softer even if he couldn't see it. "I know, Natsu. I know that you've been trying to find your father since you were a child, and what that…villain said sparked your hopes again. I know what you felt when it turned out to be just a ploy to catch you off guard," she paused, and an uncharacteristic smile crossed her features. "And I know that you beat him to a bloody pulp for lying to you about something so important."

He didn't say anything, just simply stared down at the half-empty tumbler in front of him.

"We'll find him, Natsu. He's out there and we'll find him. Don't worry," something scraped against the tabletop and he looked up to see her offering the fork to him, the plate of cake closer to him than it had been before. The smile on her face was soft and rare. "You look like you could use some cheering up. Just a little though," she warned.

Something tugged at the corners of his mouth, and it come out as a half-smile. He took the fork from her outstretched hand and sliced off a small bite of cake before shoving it in his mouth. Really, he wasn't all that fond of sweets—that was her thing, not his—but the cake did taste exceptionally good. Erza nodded at him, obviously pleased, before pulling the plate back toward her.

Natsu stood, and in one swift movement he'd grabbed his glass and downed the rest of the liquor in it. He set it back on the table before picking up his jacket and pulling it on. He looked back down at the woman still seated and nodded. "I'm going out for a walk."

Erza looked at him, a gleam of something dancing in almond-colored eyes. "Alright. Don't be too long or get into too much trouble. Just go back to the ship when you're finished. We'll be heading out soon."

His face paled at the thought of transportation, and he nodded again stiffly as he walked off. Trying to ignore the awful churning in his stomach, he pulled the door open and slipped outside. The night was mostly clear, and when he looked up he could see the millions of stars twinkling around him. It was kind of cold, for a normal being anyway, but he didn't mind so much. They were in space, so of course it was colder than normal.

He shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked. It was mostly quiet out, which was a bit unusual for this normally bustling corner of the galaxy. It was kind of nice though, he had to admit. Usually he preferred noise—brawling, shouting, loud laughter—but it was a little difficult to really think about things with all that going on. _Not that you think very often anyway, _a voice that sounded alarmingly like Gray Fullbuster's mocked him, and he frowned.

Natsu titled his head back to gaze up at the stretch of universe above him. The ice bastard didn't really know much about his family—aside from his mentor, who had passed on some time ago; nobody really wanted to pry into it, though. In fact, none of his friends seemed to have a lot of information on their familial ties. He was probably the one out of all of them that remembered the most.

If he was completely honest, sometimes he wished that he didn't remember most of his childhood. Not that it had been extremely depressing or traumatic, there were just some things he'd rather forget. The major thing being that his father had disappeared when he was eight. What the hell he been supposed to do? An unexperienced eight-year-old kid with practically no connections to speak of, left all alone in the harsh universe. He'd been lost for the longest time it seemed, if he recalled it now, though maybe in reality it had only been a few months.

He'd had to steal to stay alive, and he'd gotten good at it too. That was, until an elderly man had caught him in the act of pickpocketing his wallet. Natsu had been sure that it was is end. He'd be shipped off to some forgotten planet for criminals, even at his age, never to be heard from again. But that wasn't exactly what happened. He hadn't really been expecting to be offered a safe place to stay with three meals a day, plus an education.

Things just had a funny way of working out, sometimes.

"Get away from me, you fraud!"

The screeching voice of a girl abruptly cut off his visit to memory lane, and he blinked. A few yards in front of him he spotted the source of the voice. She looked pretty, he noted. Part of her blonde hair was pulled into a side ponytail secured with a ribbon, and some of her fringe falling into her eyes. She was dressed in a slightly revealing maroon part dress with a slit up the side, and with his superb eyesight he could make out something that looked like a whip hanging off a garter strap partly hidden behind the folds of fabric. There was a ring of shiny keys there too.

She looked quite pretty indeed, but something about the whole situation felt off. He could see a vague silhouette of someone else, and her full attention seemed to be directed at whoever it was, a dark scowl marring her pretty face.

"Now, now love, why don't you just come with me—"

_Male, _Natsu thought, watching as a hand shout out and grabbed her wrist, _mid-twenties, probably. _

The blonde shrieked and jerked her arm away, taking a few steps backward for good measure. Her hand hovered above her whip. "I said _leave me alone_," she muttered angrily. "You lied to me, you _tricked me. _I don't want anything to do with you!"

There was something distinctly familiar about her, though he couldn't put a finger on what it was. But something bubbled up inside his chest when she started to storm away from whoever she was arguing with, only to stumble drunkenly after only a few steps.

"Wha—"

She crumpled to the ground, and the man stepped out from the shadows, a triumphant sneer adorning his face. He pulled a small vial out of his jacket pocket and swirled the liquid inside it around. "Your drink, remember?"

Natsu pulled back at the sight of the bottle. It smelled like something sinister and awful. Almost like—

His suspicions were confirmed when the limp body on the ground mumbled something, and he caught the words 'drugged' and 'me.' The mystery offender looked quite pleased with himself as the girl fell unconscious, and stooped down to pick her up. But Natsu was there first, stepping in front of her still body and glaring at him.

"Didn't you hear her? She told you to leave her the hell alone," he growled, clenching his fists in preparation.

The guy—who also looked vaguely familiar, now that he thought about it—narrowed his eyes. "This isn't any of your business, stranger. It's between me and her. She just gets a little worked up sometimes, is all. Now, if you would just—"

"Why the fuck did you drug her, then? Sorry asshole, but I can't just let you take advantage of innocent girls after you've rendered them incapable of fighting back. I ain't goin' anywhere," Natsu fired back, voice cold and hard and terrifying.

"She just fainted. It happens on—"

He was abruptly cut off as he was slammed against the nearest wall, Natsu's fist twisted up in his shirt, holding him at least two feet off the ground. "I know you," he breathed harshly. "You're that guy from before. You were trying to convince all those girls that you were part of Fairy Tail."

The last sentence left a bitter aftertaste on his tongue, and he ground his teeth.

"It's _you_," the fraud/creep/possible sexual offender groaned in response. "Get your hands off me, you miscreant. I'm Salamander, remember?"

Natsu repressed the urge to punch the guy into next week. "Oh yeah? Well what're you gonna do to me?"

'Salamander' gave a haughty sniff and was about to open his mouth when Natsu, still holding him in place with one hand, used his now free one to pull the jacket off his right arm, exposing the crimson tattoo permanently painted on his skin. The other man's face instantly paled, and Natsu shot him a wild smirk.

"I don't remember you being a member of Fairy Tail."

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She woke up in an unfamiliar room with a pounding headache. Her whole body hurt, actually, and her mouth and throat were dry as hell. The blonde let out a long groan and attempted to sit up, but she didn't make it very far before the room started to spin. Flopping back down onto the bed, she inhaled deeply and closed her eyes before the memories came flooding back to her.

Her eyes shot open and she froze, a scream threatening to rip out the back of her parched throat. Before that could happen though, a voice broke the silence from outside the door.

"Shit man, you really gave it to that guy."

Her brows furrowed. Who was that? She'd never heard that deep and smooth tone before.

"Well, from what he told us, that despicable man deserved it. I'm glad that you stopped him before he could do something terrible to her," a stern-sounding woman put in. "Mira said that the when the police arrested him, the realized that he was the notorious Bora the Prominence."

"Wait," another gruff male voice spoke up. "You mean that guy that's been goin' around and kidnapping girls? The one that was trafficking 'em to Bosco or somethin'?"

"The exact same."

"Shit Salamander. No wonder it looked like he'd been dragged under a train."

There was a low groan, and a new voice spoke up. "_Augh_, don't even talk about…_those_."

Wait a minute. She recognized that one, faintly.

A curt laugh followed by a rough snort rang through the halls. "Yeah right, 'cause you can't handle transportation to save your life, ash-for-brains," the same smooth voice from before mocked.

"That's enough Gray. Besides, I think I heard something from inside."

Lucy's eyes went wide at what the woman had said, and she started to panic when the door opened. _Okay, okay. Just close your eyes and pretend you're asleep or something. They'll never know. But wait. Are these people dangerous? Well they _sound _dangerous. What am I going to do what what what—_

"Quiet, Natsu! She's asleep!"

Forgetting all about her migraine, or the fact that she felt like she'd been thrown under a bus, she shot up in bed. Three equally surprised faces stared back at her, but there was only one that she knew.

"_Natsu_?!"

Said teenager gave her a sunny grin and a wave. "Hey Lucy! Surprised to see me again so soon?"

The blonde gawked at him. "W-what are you…where _am _I?"

His grin widened to almost blinding, and she felt as if she needed to shield her eyes in order to protect her eyesight. "You're in Fairy Tail!"

Well.

Whatever she'd been expecting, it certainly wasn't that.

Shell-shocked as she was, Natsu kept going, oblivious to her open-mouthed gaping and eyes full of blatant disbelief. "Well, I mean, you're _kinda _in Fairy Tail. Erza says it's really an idea instead of a place or something. "'Cause we're a group of people I guess? I don't know, it's confusing. Anyway, sorry for bringing you here without your permission or anything, but the cops were coming and we don't exactly see eye-to-eye all the time so—"

"Hey idiot, slow the fuck down. Your rambling is frying her brain cells."

Lucy's head swiveled around to see who the owner of the very nice voice was—Gray, her mind informed her distantly. He was tall, shirtless, and possessed extremely drool-worthy muscles. Some of his black hair hung down into his eyes, and he was scowling, though his dark eyes showed obvious amusement.

She didn't cease her gawking.

An equally tall and slightly intimidating young woman with long, scarlet hair stepped up, catching her attention. "Natsu mentioned that you'd said you wished to join us, correct?"

Lucy's brain was working double-time to come up with a proper and coherent answer, but she wasn't getting anything so she just nodded instead.

Erza smiled. "Well then, welcome, Lucy."

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**end notes: **we've come full circle, apparently. ew. they're kinda spacepirates but also kinda not? idk. mercenaries that don't take any bad jobs? (because that's phantom lord's job, ohoho.) there may come a day when i am satisfied with how something i write turns out, but today is not that day.


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